A Bucket Of Blood (1959)

Recap:

Walter is a hapless sculptor wannabe. Good thing that he has a day job as a busboy at the beatnik joint The Yellow Door Cafe. One day he accidently kills his landlady’s cat, so he covers it with his sculpting clay and, BINGO, becomes the darling of the Boheme. Of course he now must deliver more and greater works. His boss at the Cafe soon faces a dilemma because as Walter’s agent he sure makes some profit, but he also finds out the secret behind the masterpieces.

Were the actual beatniks really as obnoxious as depicted in this movie? I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t around. It feels a bit shabby when a producer of conventional entertainment supplies makes fun of real artists. But who cares. On the one hand this movie caters to my prejudices, on the other hand it’s fun. With more effort and diligence and, yes, with more artistic skill this could have become a genuine masterpiece, but even as a cheap little lowbudget flick it’s still mighty entertaining.

(Fun (?) fact: the german title was Das Vermächtnis Des Professor Bondi “because” the german title of House Of Wax (1953) had been Das Kabinett Des Professor Bondi)